Elias Says...

NBA

Arenas

ARENAS SCORCHES HIS FORMER TEAM

Gilbert Arenas registered 45 points and 13 assists to help lead the Wizards to a victory over the Warriors, the team he began his career with, on Friday night. Only one other player in NBA history has recorded 45-or-more points and 10-or-more assists against a team he once played for. Alex English had 46 points and 10 assists against the Bucks on January 24, 1987. English spent the first two seasons of his NBA career with Milwaukee in 1976-77 and 1977-78.

The Nets lost to the Raptors on Friday night dropping their record to 2-25 on the season. The Nets are only the seventh team in NBA history to record their 25th loss by their 27th game of a season. The other teams to do that are Cleveland in 1970-71 (26th game), Dallas in 1992-93 and 1993-94 (27th game), Denver in 1997-98 (27th game), Chicago in 1999-2000 (27th game) and New Orleans in 2004-05 (27th game).

There was not a single player who registered 20-or-more points or double-digits in rebounds in both the New Jersey-Toronto and Utah-Atlanta games on Friday night. Prior to last night, that had not happened in any game all season, and the last time it happened in two games in one day was on December 5, 2008.

Chris Paul scored 30 points and handed out 19 assists in the Hornets' victory over the Nuggets on Friday night. Over the last 30 seasons, only three other players have posted at least 19 assists in a 30+ point game that ended in regulation: Isiah Thomas (three times), Magic Johnson (three times) and Kevin Johnson (twice).twice

The Knicks came back from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Clippers at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. That marked the second time this season that the Clippers have lost a game in which they held a 20+ point lead (November 13 against Toronto). Only one other team has lost such a game this season: Memphis, ironically against the Clippers on November 29th. Prior to the Clippers loss to Toronto on November 13th, the team had won 41 straight games in which it held a lead of 20+ points, and now has lost two of its last three such games.

All five starters for the Grizzlies scored at least 17 points in the team's victory over the Pacers on Friday night. That marked the first time in the 1,142-game history of the Grizzlies franchise that all five starters scored 17-or-more points in the same game.

Kenny Thomas and Donte Greene, Sacramento's starting forwards, combined to score zero points in 39 minutes in the Kings' loss to Minnesota on Friday night. Over the last 40 seasons, only one team's starting forward duo has played more minutes without registering a single point in a game. On January 18, 2002, Detroit's starting forwards Ben Wallace and Michael Curry did not score in 65 combined minutes in a Pistons' victory over Indiana.

Kyle Lowry registered 26 points, six rebounds, 10 assists and five steals in Houston's overtime win over the Mavericks in Dallas on Friday night. Only two other players in Rockets' history have recorded at least 25 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals in the same game: Hakeem Olajuwon (April 7, 1994) and Steve Francis (November 24, 2002).

Elton Brand came off the bench and recorded 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in Philadelphia's 98-97 victory over the Celtics in Boston on Friday night. Brand is the first Philadelphia player to reach those levels in those three categories while coming off the bench since Orlando Woolridge had 29 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots as a non-starter against the Bucks on April 6, 1994.

The Sixers one-point margin of victory was the first they posted in Boston since beating the Celtics by a score of 89-88 at the Boston Garden on December 22, 1989.

NHL

Brodeur

BRODEUR BREAKS RECORD FOR GAMES BY A GOALTENDER

Martin Brodeur beat the Senators, 4-2, on Friday night but more notably he set the record for most career games played by a goaltender (1,030), breaking the mark set by Patrick Roy. When Roy retired following the 2002-03 season having appeared in 1,029 regular-season games, Brodeur was 22nd on the NHL's all-time list (665 games). Brodeur, who's played his entire career with the Devils, has held the NHL record for most games played by a goaltender for one team since Feb. 27, 2007, when he surpassed Tony Esposito's total of 873 games for the Blackhawks.

The Sabres' 5-2 victory over Toronto at HSBC Arena on Friday night was their eighth win in eight games against the Maple Leafs in calendar year 2009. Buffalo has outscored Toronto 32-10 this year with Ryan Miller earning the win in all eight games. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they have one more game against the Sabres before "Auld Lang Syne" is sung to ring out this year (Monday in Toronto).

Radek Dvorak scored one goal and assisted on two others for the Panthers in their 6-3 win over the Hurricanes. He also set a single-game career high with a +5 rating. Dvorak is only the second forward in Panthers history to post a plus/minus rating of +5 or higher in one game. Olli Jokinen was +6 in Florida's 8-5 win against the Islanders on March 17, 2007, and he scored six points in that game (2 goals, 4 assists).

Jeff Halpern scored two goals in the Lightning's 6-3 win at St. Louis, after spending much of the day in a dentist's office repairing the damage done when he was hit in the face by a puck in Tampa Bay's game at Detroit on Thursday. (He had four teeth knocked out and needed 12 stitches to close a cut lip). It was the 10th two-goal game of Halpern's 10-year NHL career but his first ever against a Western Conference team.

The Blackhawks needed only two shootout attempts to beat the Bruins on Friday night, with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane both putting the puck past Boston goaltender Tim Thomas. It was Toews' 10th goal in 16 shootout attempts over the last two seasons but only the fifth successful shot in 16 tries for Kane over the same span.